Gundbert Scherf

Overview
Gundbert Scherf is a co-founder and co-chief executive of Helsing, the Munich-based defence technology company founded in 2021. He is one of three co-founders and contributes a background in defence policy, strategy, and management consulting to the company's leadership.

Before Helsing, Scherf worked at the management consultancy McKinsey & Company and held a role within the German Federal Ministry of Defence. His career bridges public-sector defence work and private-sector strategy.

Why this entity matters
Scherf is a leading figure in one of Europe's most prominent and highly valued technology companies. As a co-chief executive of Helsing, he helps direct a business that reached a valuation of roughly 18 billion US dollars in 2026 and became Europe's most valuable defence startup.

His combination of defence-policy experience and consulting background is notable in a sector where technology, government, and strategy intersect. It positions him as an example of how public-sector and consulting expertise is being applied within fast-growing European defence-technology firms.

Career, company, or institutional background
Scherf's background includes work as a partner at McKinsey & Company, where he focused on aerospace, defence, and technology topics. From 2014 to 2016 he served as a special representative within the German Federal Ministry of Defence, giving him direct exposure to defence procurement and policy.

He holds advanced academic credentials associated with the University of Cambridge, Freie Universität Berlin, and Sciences Po Paris. In 2021 he co-founded Helsing together with Torsten Reil and Niklas Köhler, moving from advisory and public-sector roles into the leadership of a defence-technology company.

Role in the startup, technology, investment, or innovation ecosystem
As a co-founder and co-chief executive of Helsing, Scherf plays a prominent role in the European technology and defence landscape. Helsing's financing has attracted both specialist venture investors and major institutional backers, placing its leadership at the centre of investor attention in the sector.

Scherf's earlier work in consulting and defence policy also connects him to government and industrial defence networks, giving him a bridging role between the startup ecosystem and established defence institutions.

Selected relationships and affiliations
Scherf's principal current affiliation is with Helsing, where he works alongside co-founders Torsten Reil and Niklas Köhler as part of the founding leadership team.

Through his earlier career he is associated with McKinsey & Company and with the German Federal Ministry of Defence. These affiliations connect him to both the management-consulting profession and the public defence sector.

Startuprad.io relevance
As a co-founder of Helsing, Scherf features in Startuprad.io's Unicorn Atlas coverage of the company, published as "Unicorn Atlas #1: Helsing - Europe's 18 Billion Defence AI Bet" (<a href="https://www.startuprad.io/post/e-767-unicorn-atlas-1-helsing-europe-s-18-billion-defence-ai-bet">www.startuprad.io</a>). That coverage examines the founders' backgrounds as part of its analysis of Helsing's growth.

Scherf's profile, combining defence policy and technology leadership from a German base, aligns with Startuprad.io's coverage of the region's most significant technology companies and their founders.

Public source context
Information about Scherf is available through reporting connected to Helsing and through profiles describing his earlier roles at McKinsey & Company and the German Federal Ministry of Defence. These sources document his position as co-founder and co-chief executive of Helsing.

The facts summarised here rely on that public reporting and on corroborating coverage of Helsing's leadership and financing history.